Supplication of Prophet David in Prostration

📖Sunan al-Tirmidhi 3424
Ibn Abbas reported: A man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, “O Messenger of Allah, I saw in my sleep as if I were praying behind a tree. I prostrated, and the tree prostrated along with me. I heard it saying: O Allah, write a reward for me with You, remove my burdens, store it for me with You, and accept it from me as You accepted it from Your servant David.” Then the Prophet ﷺ recited a verse of prostration and he prostrated.

This was a vision seen by a man, showing the greatness of prostration and how even creation submits to Allah. The Prophet ﷺ, in response to this vision, recited a verse of sajdah (prostration), demonstrating that the vision was truthful and connected to worship. His action also showed that such supplications in prostration are accepted by Allah when they are lawful and sincere. However, this does not mean one can invent their own forms of worship or prostration for anything they want – it is only by Allah’s permission, and a believer may only ask for lawful matters.

📖Quran 28:68
And your Lord creates what He wills and chooses; not for them was the choice. Exalted is Allah and high above what they associate with Him.

Quranic Context:

📖Quran 22:77
O you who have believed, bow and prostrate and worship your Lord and do good—that you may succeed.

📖Quran 41:37
And of His signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Do not prostrate to the sun or the moon, but prostrate to Allah, who created them, if it is truly Him you worship.

📖Quran 13:15
To Allah prostrates whoever is within the heavens and the earth, willingly or by compulsion, and their shadows as well in the mornings and the afternoons.

These verses confirm that all of creation, including trees, submits to Allah in prostration. The vision of the man was a reminder of this reality, and the Prophet’s ﷺ action affirmed that true prostration belongs only to Allah.